Google rolls out Hangouts Capture to make taking snapshots easy

Google's Jeremy Ng has dropped another announcement on Google+, this time introducing Hangouts Capture, an app that allows Google Hangout users to take snapshots during a conversation. This makes it easy to record those here-now-and-then-gone moments of hilarity or other situations you'd like to record as a digital memory.

While there are several options for taking screenshots using either the rather primitive PrntScrn button or a third-party screenshot tool, Hangouts Capture is an integrated solution designed specifically for use with the service. Because of this, it has been tailored to make taking snapshots simple during a Hangout, and also offers features you won't find in other tools.

Taking snapshots involves only a single click, so users won't have to worry about the perfect moment ending before they get a chance to take a screencap. Once a snapshot is taken, it is saved as a picture into an album that is shared with the other individuals in the Hangout, which can then be viewed as part of your Google+ photo albums, or by pulling up the Hangout post.

Those paranoid about having images taken of them without their knowledge, however, have no reason to fear. If you're part of a Hangout, you will receive a notification when the Capture app is pulled up or if it is already active when you join a Hangout. Likewise, you'll also receive a notification every time someone takes a snapshot. Effects are available that can be added to images, which you can see a sample of in the image above.